Friday, November 19, 2010

Wrapped in Ribbons

Despite being head over heels in love with 30s knitwear, it wasn't until fairly recently that I noticed just how many dresses from this era were knitted and crocheted not out of yarn, but out of ribbon...ribbon which, to me, looks and feels like bias tape in some cases! I only own one such frock (great, something new to pine over), but find the whole notion of a dress made of ribbon incredibly romantic. However, they are certainly not nearly as cozy as the other vintage knits. Brrr, I'll be saving my dress for an outing in the spring or summer.

17 comments:

i am not particularly warming to the above examples apart from yours which is gorgeous!some ribbon knits are indeed wonderful due to the level of skill with which they are made, but others plainly say to me "i didn't have what else to knit from".as someone who had to settle for less all her life that is simply a no-no. :)...at least until i'll find a beautiful one and take my words back.

thank you! I'd say it's that sort of "mend and make do" feel to these beauties made during the Depression and onward that is drawing me to them. I'll try to find out more about ribbon knitting if I can. May help to have some history and context.

Neat! These are a recently acquired taste for me as well, though I love 30s knits.I love your dress! And all the ones shown.I recently got one in a colbalt blue with a jacket but I think it's 50s. But they're close in line so I probably *could* wear the dress as 30s if I accessorized it right :)

I personally like them all! I can really appreciate all the time and thought that went in to making these being a knitter myself(certainly romantic).. And it’s something I would really like to knit or own one day- but haven’t come across a pattern for one yet! Thanks for posting Tups x

Well, truth be told, these ribbon dresses don't appear to have been as popular in the earlier 30s as knitted and crocheted dresses made with RAYON yarn! Of course, there were woolens and boucle knits as well...neat, huh!?!

Hmmm... The idea of a ribbon dress has me daydreaming about knit projects! I wonder if there are any booklets from that era that have specifically "ribbon/tape" dress patterns??? Yours is so lovely--I'm head over heels in love with the color!

Thank you, Casey, LandGirl1980, Katia: I must admit I fell head over heels for the color when I saw it as well. There's something 1920s about the combo of that blue and the pink accent ribbons, which is probably why the seller listed it as 20s/30s (definitely has an earlier 30s look to it?).